Machine for fleshing furred skins



JBLJWJ wow R. OLDS MACHINE FOR FLESHING FURRED SKINS Flled Jan 14 1926April 3, 1928.

Patented Apr. 3, 1928.

UNITED STATES RICHARD OLDS, OF \VALKERVILLE, AUSTRALIA.

MACHINE FOR- FLESHING- FURBED SKIN Application filed January 14-, 1826,Serial No. 81,133, and in Australia August 3, 1925.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for iieshing furredskins, the ob ject of the same being to provide means whereby a greaterarea of the skin can be exposed to the cutting knives than is at presentthe case with machines at present in use, and also to provide meanswhereby the depth or thickness of the cut can be evenly adjusted.

In carrying my invention into elfect I provide a guard preferably in theform of a cylindrical casing having bearings at each end, but being openlongitudinally at one side. This casing is furnished with a centralrotatably mounted spindle upon each end of which there is a spider orother supporting element for carrying a series of straight knives. Thespindleis preferably mounted on a ball bearing device so that it mayrotate with but little friction and can be furnished with a pinion wheelor sprocket wheel or other driving device one end so that it may receiverotary motion from a dr1ving element.

Upon each side of the open portion of the guard or cylinder Imountadpistable guides which are capable of sliding in grooves and areadapted to increase or decrease the relatively exposed area of theknives so that the out can be varied from a comparatively slight shavingto any pre determined depth. Provision is made for lubricating thebearings. With the exception of the straight knives I have describedsubstantially the whole of this machine in an earlier specification,

But in order that my invention maybe more clearly understood I will nowdescribe the same by aid of the accompanying illustrative drawingswherein Fig. 1 is a vertical front elevation of the machine fitting withstraight knives.

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan through the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In each of the illustrations similar letters of reference are used todenote similar or corresponding parts wherever they occur.

In the drawings a is a bench or platform through which a circular holeis cut as inclicated by dotted lines and beneath which a chute b isarranged to receive and deflect waste material from the machine.

I construct from sheet metal or malleable cast metal or other material aframe or case 0 preferably of cylindrical formation, a portion of whichis open as illustrated in the drawings and along one edge of the openportion I provide a thickened At the base of the cylinder-I form legs orlugs preferably three in number as indicated at (Z through which thereis a hole for the foundation bolts 6 wl'iereby the :lrainc is secured tothe bench.

Near to the base of the cylinder I also arrange a lower fixed spider jwhich .may form an integral portion of the casing or may be attachedthereto by countersunk studs or screws or other convenient means andwithin this spider I form a cup 7 to act as a bearing and I provide aball race therein.

At the top of the structure I arrange a corresponding bearing 9 whichmay likewise be provided with a ball race and can be secured by a screwthreaded stud g which passes through the top of the structure and isheld in position by the nuts g For the purpose of mounting the cuttingknives I furnish an upper and a lower rotatable spider 7L and j havingcentral bearings and being formed with enlarged attachment ends for theknives as indicated at it and y" and being provided with belts or studs7: whereby the vertical knives Z are adjustably secured to the spidersas illustrated. These knives are preferably three in number'and arearranged in the manner illustrated and may have their cutting edgesslightly curved in the direction of their traverse'as more clearlyindicated at Z in Fig. 2 of the draw ings as is the custom with fleshingknives, the direction of rotation being indicated by the arrow in Fig.2. V I

The upper spider may have a short spindle seated therein adapted to besupported within the upper bearing. The lower spider is keyed orotherwise secured to a spindle in which may be adjustably held inposition by the nuts or and extends downwardly below the bench orplatform and is titted with a bevelled gear wheel. 0 which registerswith a bevelled gear wheel 79 mounted upon the horizontal driving shaft9 which is supported by the bracket 1* and receives rotary motion fromany convenient source of power. This driving gear, however may be variedaccording to preferments and circun'istancos.

In the foregoing paragraph I have described theconstruction andarrangement of spindles and adjacent parts of such a nature as to affordan easily fitted hearing which portion 0'.

will offer very slight resistance and consequently can be operated withlow power, but it will be obvious that my rotatable vertical knifesystem may be mounted on a simple spindle without ball bearings if sodesired for cheaper types of machines. I

Upon one side of the opening in the frame or case I mount a verticalflat sliding plate 5 having horizontal slots or slideways 8 near eachend thereof, and I also'provide projecting studs 5 which are fitted withwing nuts 10 the studs being secured to the frame or case so that thevertical flat sliding plate when adjusted can beheld in the desiredposition by the studs and wing nuts as will be readily understood.

Upon the opposite side oi? the opening I arrange a vertical slidingplate 2; which may be concave so as to lit against the side of thecylindrical frame and is correspondingly provided with slots or openings0 and wing nuts 10 adapted to serve as clamps wheii used in Conjunctionwith the studs or bolts t. By means of these sliding plates the efieotive depth oi the out et the knives can be set according to preferments.

It is to be understood that the knives and the gear wheels can be set soas to rotate in the opposite direction to that which is illustrated inthe drawings if so desired, the sharpening and barring of the fleshiiigknives being correspondingly adapted.

In applying my invention to practical use the machine is setup asillustrated and the vertical fiat sliding plates are drawn backwardsortorwards and clamped in position according to the amount of flesh tobe re moved from the skin or pelt.

The skin is then held by the operator usiiig both hands so that whenstretched out and drawn tightly across the opening of the machine andallowed to bear against the edges If helical knives are used as in myformer invention illustrated and described in my Patent No. 1,649,725granted November 17, 1927 the skin or pelt will be drawn across theopening in a horizontal position, but it straight knives are used asherein described the skin or pelt should be moved in a diagonaldirection.

,It isintended that the operator should By providing these adjustmentplates allowance is thereby made to enable the machine to be adapted toany inequality in the width of the cutting blades due to excessive wearor repeated sharpening, and the blades themselves may be slightlyslotted opposite to the bolts or studs la so as to enable them vto bemoved backwards or forwards as may be necessary, and it will beunderstood that the machine may be varied in size to suit the difi'erentclasses of skins or pelts which are to be fleshed thereby.

What I claim is j j I A fieshing machine having an outer f ame or casingwith an upright opening formed therein, vertical adjustment platesmounted on the frame adjacent to each side of the opening, said platesbeingadaptedto slide horizontally for adjustment purposes; a series ofrotatably mounted vertical straight knives arranged on a knife spider torotate with the casing; and a lower bearing spider fixed within theframe and provided with a central bearing device in which the knifespider is supported. V a In testimony whereof I have affixed mysignature.

Brennan oLns.

